Free Republic

KINGSPORT, Tenn. — A U.S. Navy recruiter has been charged with trying to buy a homemade bomb from an undercover federal agent. Authorities said Chief Petty Officer Keith Patrick Conner, 38, of Kingsport wanted to use the bomb to commit a murder. Conner, who is the senior recruiter for the Navy's office in Bristol, appeared Monday in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, where he waived a detention and preliminary hearing. U.S. District Court Magistrate Dennis Inman ordered Conner be jailed until trial. Jim Cavanaugh, special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the agency began its...

The ATF now says all nine fires appear to be related. At each crime scene, the fire starter used things that were easy to catch fire in the church such as flowers or flags near the alter. "this is ugly criminal behavior," says ATF Agent Jim Cavanaugh. Investigators say they have new evidence and maybe even some witnesses. Cavanaugh says, "The things that we seem to consistently hear and seem to make sense to us is that we have two white males. We have had multiple reports of that and we have had multiple reports of SUVs." An ATF agent...

Two men who authorities said dabbled in devil worship have been arrested in a rash of church arsons and vandalism in rural east Alabama, including scrawling on a Sunday school classroom wall: "Teach children to worship Satan!!" Geoffrey Parquette and James Clark, both 21, were arrested Sunday and entered not guilty pleas Monday. Friends at least since high school, the two from the Smiths community in Lee County were arrested after a stolen cross was found in Parquette's home and his grandmother alerted authorities, according to church members briefed by investigators. "These guys called themselves professed spiritual satanists," said Russell...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The government has seized Eric Rudolph's gray pickup truck, which he was driving when he bombed an Alabama abortion clinic, and plans to blow up the vehicle in a training drill rather than risk letting it fall into the hands of admirers. Some of Rudolph's victims said Wednesday the truck should come to them, however, as partial compensation for the pain and injuries they endured. The truck — a 1989 Nissan with the North Carolina license plate KND-1117 — likely will be loaded with explosives and detonated by either the FBI or the Bureau of Alcohol,...

Store manager charged Started fatal fire to cover up theft, officials say By Chris Conley conley@gomemphis.com June 18, 2003 A young store manager firefighters were trying to save lit the fire that killed them, investigators said Tuesday. Federal prosecutors charged Anthony Paul Shaw, manager of the Family Dollar store in Frayser, with starting the Sunday night fire that killed two Memphis firefighters to hide his theft of several thousand dollars from the store safe. Authorities said Shaw, 21, admitted to the crime during a second interview late Monday. Lt. Trent Kirk and Pvt. Charles Zachary, both 39, died of injuries...

He's a 69-year-old veteran who says he is no longer an American citizen. "I am an American sovereign of the Republic of the United States of America," said Hollis Fay Summers. "I do know there's a lot of us." He is part of a growing movement that the FBI labels domestic terrorism, but Summers said he is not violent. "I am strictly for doing what I believe is right under the constitution," said Summers. Summers lives in Union County, Tennessee. He became a sovereign four years ago after attending a seminar in Alabama. Sovereigns believe you can separate yourself...

ICONOCLAST DAILY NOTEBOOK.... Bill Clinton's Legacy.... February 13, 2003: Hey, we don't usually post to this feature more than once a day. But today's an exception. If you're going to read only one thing today, make sure it's the latest opinion piece from wise Washington pundit Charles Krauthammer. It's called Bracing for the Apocalypse, and it describes in scary detail the real legacy left by America's most undistinguished political procrastinator and First Felon, William Jefferson Clinton. Here's just a sampling of what Charles Krauthammer has to say today: You don't get to a place like this overnight. It takes at...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Authorities are investigating a vehicle explosion at Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Resort that has left one person dead. Authorities say the vehicle was in a parking lot used primarily for staging and overflow parking during the holiday season. Police say Gaylord security officers notified them just before midnight of the explosion.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Three college students suspected of a string of Alabama church fires may have been out drinking when they began their spree, authorities said. Benjamin Nathan Moseley and Russell Lee DeBusk Jr., both 19-year-old theater students at Birmingham-Southern College, were arrested this week along with 20-year-old Matthew Lee Cloyd, who was studying pre-med at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Throughout the monthlong investigation, authorities said alcohol could have led to a warped bravado that sparked the arsons, and initial interviews with the suspects bore out the theory, according to one officer. However, deputy state fire marshal Ed...

NBC law enforcement expert Jim Cavanaugh appeared on MSNBC Sunday morning to analyze the massacre of 20 people and at least 42 injured at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida on Saturday night. Pulse Nightclub is one of the most popular gay clubs in the city and at least 320 people were inside at the time of the attack. The Daily Mail has reported the shooter was an Islamic extremist committing a terror attack. The attacker wore a suicide vest and was killed in a shootout with police.

(CNSNews.com) - Posters reading, "Be Cool... Don't Let Guns Rule" are going up in all public schools in Hamilton County, Tenn., which includes the Chattanooga metropolitan area. "The initiative will aid in keeping guns out of schools, thus allowing students and teachers to focus on learning," the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in a news release. The ATF says as students walk their school hallways, they will see the posters, which promise anonymity to those who call Crime Stoppers to report what they see or hear. "The time period between preventing an act of violence and...

Chiefs call for ban on rifle used in Birmingham officers' deaths By KYLE WINGFIELD Associated Press Writer The rifle believed used in the recent slayings of three Birmingham police officers would be illegal under a bill now before Congress, a move supported by some of Alabama's top law officers in the wake of the deaths. "It's a military weapon all day long," Montgomery police Chief John Wilson said Monday of the SKS, a semiautomatic rifle whose rounds can penetrate the protective vests worn by most police officers. "That's all it is, and it needs to be used for nothing more...

Syrian rebel fighters are using Facebook to buy and sell heavy weapons, guns and ammunition - including 'CIA-supplied' rocket launchers. One post on a Facebook page shows an AGS-17 Soviet-Era grenade launcher available for $3,800 (£2,731). One of the messages on the Facebook page says: "Quick friends, I need a gun with a silencer." Chillingly, further investigation shows that some of the users active on the page display support for Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups such as Ahrar Al-Sham and the Islamic Front, prompting concerns that the weapons could easily fall into terrorist hands. Ahrar Al-Sham have been implicated in the massacre...

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Purchasing Mini Caliber Robot 10--Mini-Caliber Robot Solicitation Number: DJA-15-ANCE-PR-1110 Agency: Department of Justice Office: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Location: Administrative Programs Division (APD) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice.The solicitation number is DJA-15-ANCE-PR-1110 and is issued as an invitation for bids (IFB), unless otherwise indicated herein.The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-84. The associated North American Industrial Classification System...

Barack Obama is not really changing gun law. He can't. What he IS doing is creating more jobs for the FBI and BATF and increasing the manpower of both agencies for future use. Also, he is stirring people to anger to be able to mark those who react the most for future reference as well. Don't play the game.

Civil disobedience with guns. (Please read entire post before commenting.) Preppers unite! Stand alone preppers will be easily neutralized by fascist or violent forces. For example, look at this prep list from CheaperThanDirt.com. Can you see what's missing?A: Strength in numbers. This strategy of remaining underground in your own country will be fatal. If you wait until they come before you organize, you're dead. The success of the Bundy Ranch standoff (the Federal Government backing off without one shot fired) is proof of concept - the power of a community armed and unwavering will succeed against overreaching powers. United We...

A county coroner’s official said the man had not been identified as of early Monday evening. The elite Robbery-Homicide Division took over the case, getting a search warrant for the victim’s home. Inside, they found more than 1,200 firearms — including handguns, rifles and shotguns — as well as more than 2 tons of ammunition. An LAPD bomb squad was sent to the home to determine that the search was safe to proceed. Evacuation for surrounding homes were ordered for nearly 12 hours Saturday, when the search was conducted. Investigators were being assisted by the LAPD Detective Bureau’s gun detail...

Security Expert: Feds Involved In Day-To-Day Busts Isn't Something Seen Every Day. Bullet-riddled windows, yellow crime scene tape, and evidence markers denoting where shell casings fell on the sidewalk are becoming all-too-familiar sights on New York City streets. Now in an unprecedented move, a federal agency is joining the effort to get gun crimes under control, CBS2’s Marcia Kramer reported Monday. Kramer is told it was a collective decision made by the federal government, the NYPD, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Those agencies are mounting a...

<p>WACO, Texas (AP) — First came a few pistol shots, then a barrage of what sounded like automatic gunfire during a shootout last month at a Waco restaurant favored by bikers, several witnesses said. But authorities still haven't said how many of the dead and wounded were the result of police fire.</p>